ORION M
by Paper Pieces
Summary: When a mysterious group of New Mutants come into the world of Mutant X, Shalimar makes a startling discovery....
1. Ambush

ORION M

By ErikaofHalo and Paper Pieces

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A/N- So here's the low-down. This is our first Mutant X fic (well our first one deemed worthy to be put up on the same website as other great authors * cough *Lady S * cough*). We're very much newbie Mutant X-ers, so no angry flames that we got something wrong (civil criticism is appreciated). We've tried to stay faithful to the series and make everything tie in together with it, but it's kinda hard not having seen all the episodes. Be kind! Our feelings are very fragile!

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Chapter 1: Ambush

"Where'd Adam say this New Mutant was?" Shalimar Fox asked as she and her companion strode up the long slum-y downtown street. The sun was slowly setting over the distant abandoned buildings to the west.

            Brennan Mulwray looked down at the piece of paper in his hand. "421 Duluth Street, Apartment 4B." He read and put the slip into his pocket. Looking around for building signs, he replied, "We found Duluth. I'm not seeing an apartment building." 

            Shalimar pulled her jacket closer around her and sighed. "You think the informant got the address wrong?"

            "Well, there's 412." Brennan pointed a little further down the road to a large three-story building. 

            The woman squinted her eyes and outstretched her hand, motioning for the paper. "Doesn't look like an apartment building to me." 

            "More like a warehouse." Brennan agreed, fishing the paper out of his pocket once more. His face contorted in his effort to get the paper back out of the pocket of his tight jeans. "But maybe we should check it out anyway." 

            "I'll go." She replied. "I'm freezing out here."

            "You want me to come too?" 

            She glanced at him as she began to walk away, slightly amused at the concern in his voice. "I got this. You just try not to die of hypothermia out here, 'kay?"

            The tall handsome man rolled his eyes as the cat-like woman walked away. Sitting down on the side of the curb, he realized how cold actually was. He stuck his numbing hand into the pockets of his leather jacket and looked up at the sun set. 

            'Another day, another Mutant.' He thought with a sigh. The sounds of street in the background reminded him of his early days before Mutant X. It seemed like such a long time ago. Everything he cared about then seemed so trivial now. 

A clatter of trashcans behind him brought him back to the present. Looking up he realized…he was surrounded. 

Four uniform clad GSA agents were advancing on him, electric stun guns glowing purple. "You're under arrest…"

"You know what?" Brennan began jumping to his feet. "Don't let your mouth write a check, your ass can't cash." 

He quickly brought up his fist in a defensive stance, but they didn't stay there long. The first agent advanced bringing his right fist across to contact Brennan's jaw. With a quick duck, the endangered mutant dodged the blow. Not giving up, the agent punched with his ready left hand and again with his right. Brennan easily caught both, crisscrossed the man's arms and kicked him away. The GSA agent doubled over and fell to the ground. 

"That was easy." He smirked.

The next two came together, evenly paced between them. Taking advantage of his angle, he punched the left agent first, whom ducked, missing his blow. Still spinning from the punch, he brought his leg up for a full round house kick to the right agent knocking him to the pavement, and pulled his arm across again for another direct hit the face of the other.  Angered by the punch, the man came back almost full force in series of blows and kicks. Blocking almost each attack, the mutant kicked the man away long enough for agent to draw his stun gun. A blast of purple flew by Brennan's ear. 

"I can do that too." He replied and rubbed his hands together. In a jerk of his arm, he sent a bolt of electricity from his hand at the attacker knocking him against the far building.  

The fourth held off, assessing the situation and learning from his companions. Brennan smiled at him and held out his hands in a beckoning gesture. 

"Come on.  I'm just warming up." He said with a chuckle as he put up his fist and hopped back and forth like a boxer. 

The last agent ran with his fists ready. In one smooth motion, the mutant flipped his adversary over his back and slammed his body down hard on the street. 

Suddenly his mind flew back to a moment ago and his blonde friend. Not sticking around for another fight, Brennan took off towards the warehouse. Out of a nearby alley, more GSA agent began to move in towards him blocking his path. 

"Oh shit," He breathed and retraced his steps backwards. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw his previous attackers getting to their feet. As he looks to his sides for an exit, he didn't see one of the agent's pulling out a stun gun. Only as the energy bolts jolted through his body did he feel the fear rush to his brain. Brennan fell to the ground, barely conscious. 

But he was conscious…conscious enough to hear new voices…not that of his attackers. Along with these voices came shouting and the sound of impacts, that on flesh and pavement. He slowly opened his weaken eyes and tried to look at the unclear scene around him. 

Ten feet away a tall dark hared man was engaged in a hand-to-hand battle with three agents at the same time. With an abrupt hand gesture and a loud booming noise, all the uniformed fighters were on their backs, unconscious, and the man had moved on to more agents. A few feet away from him, a shorter blonde man was fighting, but without the same flare as the other man. His style seemed more outrageous and unorthodox, with a win at all cost strategy. 

"We could use some help!" One of them called out. Suddenly a shadow flew over Brennan. A missile like object swooped down and took out a pair the blonde man was battling. The flyer stood up kicked the closest GSA agent in the back of the head. 

Suddenly, there was a hand on his arm. Brennan realized he was being pulled along by his collar and forearm. The person above him was grunting with the effort. 

"Let go of me." He said weakly, trying to wriggle his arm out of grasp. 

"Don't move around." A tired and frustrated female voice shot at him. He opened his eyes. The world around him was still blurred and shaking, but he could make out a teenage girl with curly brown hair standing over him, pulling him to a nearby alley. 

"Why did I get stuck with the victim?" She asked no one in particular. 

A dark shadow appeared over her shoulder. "Watch…" Brennan began. The girl swiftly glanced over her shoulder. Giving a small yelp she flung herself on his body and covered her head with her hands. 

Brennan's body began to tingle for a second. Instead of just his arm being pulled, his whole body felt like it was being tugged along at a very fast speed. Then it was over. He opened his eyes again and all he could see was the orange sky and the sides of two building over him.  

"Hey," The girl said lightly slapping his cheek to get his attention. "Over here. How made fingers am I holding up?" 

"Four," Brennan answered honestly.

The girl looked at her peace sign she was holding up. "Close enough. Looks like you got in a little deep." She smiled as she examined his body for injury. "I think you'll be okay, but you'll have a really head splitter tomorrow."  He attempted to respond but she interrupted. "Nice ring. Married?" 

He chuckled. "No," She picked up his hand to look at it. Suddenly, her eyes seemed to register something. 

"Wait a minute are you--"

"TAWNY!" Another voice called out from a distance. "We gotta jet!" 

"That's me." She stated and stood up. "Don't worry. You'll be okay. Watch out for those stun guns though." 

In a moment, she was gone. He didn't hear the GSA anymore. All he really heard was his head throbbing. Then everything went black.


	2. Mystery Group

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A/N- Chapter two…hmmm….okay…not much to say….just R/R

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Chapter 2:  Mystery group

Pain shot through his head like a bullet. His hands instinctively flew to his temples. "Ow," He moaned. 

"Brennan?!" A surprised and familiar voice called out. He turned his head to find the speaker. Emma Delauro rushed over to the chair he was laying on. "You're awake." 

"Shhhh" He hushed her, rubbing his head. "I got the migraine from hell over here." 

"Adam," She began in a quieter tone. "Brennan's awake." 

"I'll be right there." The older man's voice echoed through the lab.

"You had us worried. What happened?" Emma asked returning her attention to the woozy man. 

"GSA jumped me. I think the tip was a trap." He replied rewinding the last things he remembered in his head. "Where's Shalimar? Is she okay?"

"Just a little freaked." The woman smiled. "You should have seen how she was when she brought you in here."

"But that's understandable." Adam retorted as the glass doors to the lab swooshed open. "It's not every day you find a teammate unconscious in an alley, near a group of unconscious GSA agents." He walked over behind Emma and placed on hand on her shoulder. "Care to explain what happened?" 

            "I don't really understand myself." Brennan replied trying to sit up by swing his legs around to the right side of the chair. "I remember fighting a small group of agents and then running, but they multiplied and I got hit hard with a couple stun guns." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Then it gets fuzzy."

            "Do you remember anything at all after that?"

            "Bits and pieces." Brennan sighed trying to stand. "There was a tall man, and a blonde one, and some one was flying, and some girl was pulling me somewhere." 

            Adam and Emma shared a glance. The man cleared his throat. "As helpful as that is, Brennan, I need a little more." 

            He looked down at the floor and concentrated hard. "The tall one had to be an elemental. He was transferring sound energy at the GSA. The girl…she… oh god…" Brennan pointed at Adam and squinted in thought. "Her name, Someone said her name…it began with a…T."

            "Tina?" Emma suggested. "Terri? Tara?"

            "Teresa?" Adam asked. 

            "Tonya?" Emma continued. 

            "Tawny?" Brennan said to himself questioningly. "Tawny, I think." 

            Adam nodded. "You should thank you're lucky stars that this Tawny came along or else you'd probably be in stasis, by now."

            Brennan nodded in agreement as Emma took a step forward. "I'll help you to your room." She smiled offering her hand.   

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            "Nothing like a good butt kicking to relax a guy, huh?" Russell laughed as the group of four New Mutants entered the empty warehouse. They crossed the bare concrete floor as the short blonde rambled on. 

            "We'll I'm glad you had fun, Russ, because this means we have to move." Sarah replied as the group reached the opposite side of the room and entered the elevator. 

" What do you mean?" Russ asked as he adjusted his jacket.

" Well the GSA must have found out were the lair is." The tall, dark, and until then silent man pointed out."

"I don't think so, Lee" Tawny interjected. The conversation was interrupted by the all too familiar voice of the computer.

"Please identify yourselves."

"Sarah Hensley"

"Lee Huang"

"Russell Evans"

"Tawny Hensley"

They paused for a small panning laser beam to take their retina scans. After a small registering pause, the elevator started its familiar journey downward.

"What do you mean T?" Sarah asked looking back at her younger sister. 

"I think they had set a trap."

"For us?" Russell asked.

"No, Do you remember the victim at the scene?"

"The unconscious dude? Yeah."

"Well…I think it was set for him."

"What makes you think that?" Lee asked.

The elevator doors swished open.

"Because he was from Mutant X."

The four turned see their leader, the average tall raven hared woman in her mid-40s.

"Aww, Eve that was my line." Tawny complained.  The woman smiled slightly but then resumed her usual scowl. 

"Terribly sorry, Tawny. But we have more important things to worry about." The British woman continued motioning them to follow her.

"What do you mean Eve?" Sarah asked following closely.

"Well, 15 GSA agents just ambushed two Mutant X members fifty feet from our front door. We need to investigate whether this was a coincidence or not."

"Sounds simple enough, we pay a little visit to Genomex, kick a little ass and find out what's going on." Russell said emphasizing his point with a punch of his right hand into the palm of his left.

"Or," Tawny pointed out as the group entered Eve's office, which doubled as the conference room "We just hack in and find out for ourselves."

"Genomex has the most advanced security systems in the world, both on the physical plain and the cyber one," Eve said motioning them to take their seats, " No, You all aren't ready for this kind of challenge. Well," the woman glanced at Russell and Tawny, "not all of you at least." The woman then resumed her normal posture, "No, I'm afraid I'm going to have to call in a favor on this one."


	3. Tawny and Sarah

Chapter 3: Tawny and Sarah

Brennan sighed as he entered another search query into the database computer. So far his curiosity about his savior was only making him frustrated instead of getting him answers. The database of known New Mutants consisted of 6 'Tawny's, none of which matched the girl that had somehow transported him from the street to the alley. 

"Need help?" 

"Maybe," Brennan replied staring at the green tinted computer screen. 

Jesse Kilmartin appeared at the right of the sitting man. "What are you looking for?" 

"Some girl named Tawny, but I can't seem to find her." He explained as the computer's search ended with no new information. "I've search up and down the Known list, the Missing list, and the Decreased list."

"You know her last name?" The fair hared man asked.

"You think I'd still be here if I did?" 

"Maybe Tawny's her middle name." 

"Do we have a search program for that?" Brennan looked up at Jesse. 

He shrugged and motioned for him to get up. "I think I have an idea." Brennan stood from his seat and allowed his friend to take his place at the helm of his search. "We could adjust the program…" He began typing with one hand as he rubbed his chin with the other. Hitting the enter button with flare, he said, "Let's try it now." 

"Tawny, T-A-W-N-Y" Brennan relied to Jesse as he typed in the name. 

"Old friend?" He asked at the searching message blinked on the screen.

"She's the one who pulled me to the alley yesterday."

"You think she's a New Mutant?"  

"She looked like she could barely pull a full trash can 40 feet, much less me to an alley 80 feet away." Brennan explained crossing his arms over his chest, staring at the computer screen.

"Feral?" 

"Would you think if I was crazy if I said teleportation?" 

The machine let out a loud beep as a new window popped up. Three new entries appeared.

"I've never heard of it. Maybe Adam has." Jesse clicked on the first name of the list. "Kristen Tawny Reams, Elemental Botanical." 

"She was a brunette." Brennan replied reaching over to hit the next button. 

"Yvette Tawny Johasen, Psionic Telekinetic."

"Maybe," He answered skeptically. "Who's the last one?"

"Winifred Tawny Hensley, Mutantcy Unknown." 

Brennan squinted at the picture. "That's her. Brown hair, green eyes," 

"Says here, she's been missing for about a year now." Jesse pointed out. "And look at this, she has one sister, Sarah, who's also missing." 

"Aves Feral?" The tall man read off the mutant power. "That's impossible. Genomex hasn't made a bird-human yet, have they?"

"Wait a minute…" Jesse began. "You said one of them was flying, right?" 

"But a bird feral?" Brennan replied skeptically. "Would she have wings?" 

"Not necessarily. Shalimar doesn't have a tail, does she?"

Brennan shook head. "I'm more confused now then I was before." 

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The club remix pounded and lights flashed as the clubs patrons gyrated and grooved to the music. Emma looked over at her sandy blonde hared partner.

"You don't think it was insensitive of us to have left Brennan and Shalimar back at sanctuary?"

"Don't look at me, you're the emotions expert," Jesse countered turning around on his seat at the bar to look at the dancers, "Besides Brennan wanted to do a little more research on his mystery rescuers, and Shalimar said something about relaxing time."

"Then…You wanna dance?" Emma yelled over the music.

"Nah, You go head." He called back taking a sip of his drink. Emma raised her eyebrows at him and smiled. Jesse watched her as she danced her way to the other side of the floor and out of sight.  

As a funky song began to play over head, his eyes drifted to an unfamiliar brunette dancing with a young blonde "gentleman". Her attire was sleek with a black tank top and a tight thigh length red leather skirt that left so much, yet so little to the imagination. Her wavy light brown hair hung loose around her neck and swayed as she did. He watched her sing along with the music as she laughed with her dance partner. She was like all the other dancers on the floor but he couldn't take his eyes off her. He watched her for a while as she bumped and grinded across the dance floor. She began to spin several times as the song's volume heightened. When she stopped, he caught her eye.  The woman paused for a second, flashed him a smiled playfully, and continued to dance. 

"You want another?" The bartender asked.

"Hm?" The young man turned and replied "Oh, No thanks." as the song came to an end and a new one began. 

The bartender walked away and he turned his attention back to the dance floor, hoping to catch her eye again. She was no where in sight. Straight up in his chair, He tried to scan the crowd for his mystery woman. He sat back down in his seat slightly disheartened. 

Suddenly, Jesse felt a tapping on his shoulder. He turned his head in the direction of the tap. Sitting in Emma's seat was the mystery woman.

"Sarah." She yelled over the music

"Beg your Pardon?" He yelled back.

"My name is Sarah." His eyebrows furrowed in a look of confusion.

"You've been staring at me for the past 5 minutes," She continued, "I figure you're either wondering who I am or you're a psycho killer. Either way you'll want to know my name."

"What if I'm a psycho killer?" He asked amused with her reasoning. Sarah shrugged.

"Call me an optimist." She answered with a smile. 

Jesse smiled back at the young brunette. She was prettier close up, he noticed. Even with her heavy black eyeliner, red eye shadow, and sparkles, one could see a hint of natural beautiful beneath. 

"So," The dancer began tapping her fingers on the bar top. "Do I have to stare at you for 5 minutes before you tell me your name?"

"Oh Sorry," He chuckled, "It's Jesse." 

"Well Jesse, You wanna dance?" Sarah said, standing up. 

Jesse scanned the dance floor for a second.

"Won't your dance partner mind?" He asked allowing her to take his hand.

"Who? Russ?" She laughed, pulling him on to the dance floor, "Nah, he's got other things on his mind." She pointed to the blonde man who was now dancing with a red head bountifully endowed in the chest area. 

"Well," Jesse resolved. "Maybe a just a minute."  

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A/N- R/R if you please!!

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	4. Eve Gregorio

Chapter 4: Eve Gregorio

'Nothing like a cup of tea, a book, and some quiet time' Shalimar thought leaving the kitchen and heading for her room. She's was feeling so content her feline part felt like purring. She passed by the lab quietly humming to herself. She stopped when she heard Adam's voice sounding slightly resistant. 

"I'm not so sure about this Eve."

            "Come on Adam. A favor is a favor." A womanly British voice objected. 

            "Are you sure there is evidence to the fact that the GSA has access to the location of the lair?"

            "Nothings for sure Adam. We need time to accurately identify if indeed there is a threat and you know as well as I that we can't do that if our whereabouts are threatened." Eve replied.

"All right Eve, You win you and your kids can crash here while you figure things out, but only until you figure things out, all right? Not a day longer."

"Thank you so much Adam."

"And as of now we are even. No more of this favor business."

"I understand completely, and who knows maybe your kids will learn a thing or two." 

"Or vice versa,. Shalimar and I will pick you up in the double helix."

"Thanks again Adam. Oh and Adam…It's wonderful to see you again."

"Like wise" She heard Adam say and the computer screen blink off.

Shalimar peeked into the Lab to see Adam lean forward on the desk with his face in his hands. She knocked on the opened glass door and leaned her head in. 

"Everything okay?" She asked tentatively.

"Yes, just wonderful," He said getting up and straightening his jacket, "Do you remember me telling you that their were other groups of New Mutants rescuing other New Mutants?" He continued walking through the doors motioning her to follow him.

"Like us?" She asked.

"Yes, like Mutant X. Well…in about," He said checking his watch, "Three hours you're going to meet one in particular, Orion M." He said stopping to sit a computer. 

"Orion M?" Shalimar asked curiously

"Organization for the Rights and Ideals Of New Mutants. They were formed by a colleague of mine, Eve Gregorio. She was one of the top bio-engineers at Genomex, second only to myself." He swiftly brought up her file on the computer screen. "She defected shortly after I did but didn't found her organization until three years ago." 

"So she created Orion M?"

"Yes, she recruited several individuals with unusual gifts. How she found them I'll never know, but she trained them much like I have you and the others and now they rescue new mutants. Lately I have been letting them funnel their rescues into our safe houses."

"So why are they coming here?"

"The tip off ambush yesterday was right out side their secret headquarters, they call the Lair."

"Kinda Batman and Robin," Shalimar commented. 

"Yeah, well, They think that it might not have been a coincidence and the GSA knows that location."

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"We'd better hurry! It's going to rain and we left the top down." Jesse said waving his hands to exaggerate the punch line.

Sara laughed at the joke. Jesse really loved the way she laughed. It was genuine the way her whole face seemed to light up and her eyes seemed to twinkle. It was amazing to him how they had been sitting and talking long after the music had stopped and most of the patrons had left. It was even more amazing how much they had in common. He could sit around and talk to her all night. 

"Sara!" a half-panicked voice called from behind him. He turned to see the spiky blond hared young man she had been dancing with earlier. 

"Yeah Russ?" She asked still chuckling. He gave her a very serious look.

"We have to go now!"  Exaggerating his point with raise eyebrows.

"Why? I'm having a lot of fun with Jesse here." She replied obviously missing the urgency in his voice. He looked slightly frustrated and leaned down to whisper in her ear. As he was whispering, her eyes got very wide at what he said.  She stood up and collected her coat and purse.

"Is everyone okay?" She asked worry in her eyes. Russ shrugged and turned to the exit. Sara turned to Jesse.

"Jesse, it's been really fun. I hope I see you again." She said the quickly turned to follow her friend. Jesse stood up.

"Is there anything I can do?" he yelled to her. She looked back at him and gave him a fretful smiled. Blowing him a kiss, she turned and ran after her friend, leaving Jesse in a confused haze. 

"You okay?" Emma's voice asked. Jesse turned to his friend. She was standing beside him, glancing in the direction he had been staring. "You're worried." 

"I'm fine." He replied absently. "We should really head back." 

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"What would that mean, if the GSA found their HQ?" Shalimar asked intensively.

The computer then drew their attention to the screen with a subtle ding. 

"You got mail?" Shalimar asked.

"Looks that way." Adam said clicking on the icon that popped up.

A window on the computer screen opened showing woman face smudged with what looked like ash. The picture started to move and the woman looked like she was speaking into some sort of hand held while running. 

"Adam, our suspicions were correct. The GSA overtook our security approximately fifteen minutes ago. The Lair is on fire. We are all still alive. We need to leave this area now!" She paused as a small coughing fit took hold. "Please send back up!" The screen went blank. Adam didn't hesitate for a moment.

"Shalimar, fire up the double helix. I'll leave a message for Brennan, Jesse, and Emma."

Shalimar nodded in acknowledgment and ran for the garage.


	5. The Inferno

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A/N- Thanks to everyone who Reviewed. We REALLY appreciate it and we hope to live up to your expectations. Here's Chapter five!

Disclaimer (b/c we forgot on the first chapter)- We DONOT own any of the Mutant X characters or any plot lines. We DO on the other hand own our characters ( i. e. Sarah, Tawny, Lee, Russell, Orion M etc.) We would be happy to lend them out though if you ask politely. Thanks Bunches! 

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Chapter 5:  The Inferno

"Tawny!" Sarah yelled through the window of the black Audi as Russell threw the car into park. "Tawny!" 

"Tawny! Lee!" The driver cried jumping out of the vehicle. "Eve!" He glanced over at his friend. Her eyes were wild with fear. He knew how much she loved her little sister. Silently, he prayed that the sixteen-year-old wasn't in harm's way. 

"Oh my god! Russ!" She gasped grabbing at his arm in horror. "Look!" 

The familiar warehouse building, that had house the man and woman for so long, was engulfed in flames. The old wood spread the fire quickly, destroying anything in its path. A slow dreaded feeling of hopelessness crept over Russell's body as he watched the tragic scene in front of him.

"Eve! Tawny!" Sarah screamed in terror lunging forward toward the flaming inferno. 

"NO!" Russell cried reaching out to hold her back. "It's too dangerous!" He wrapped his arms around her stomach as she began to sob in fear. The both of them slid to the dirty, ashy ground as she cried into his chest. His heart leap at being so close to her, but it broke at her sorrow. He'd always kept his affection for her to himself. Squeezing her tighter, he shook his feeling from his thoughts and focused on her pain. 

"It's gonna be okay, Sarah." He told her reassuringly. "Tawny can take care of herself and Lee was with her." 

"I should have been here!" She sobbed loudly. "God! I'm such an idiot! How could this have happen?! Why did this happen?!?"

Russell shushed her, gently rocking her back and forth. "Maybe they got out…"

"It's a freakin' blaze!" She began to shout again. She could feel the young man holding her cringe with ever shout. Wiping her nose, she closed her eyes and tried to halt her crying. 

"Sarah?" The 21-year-old stated with a hint of intrigue in his voice, "Did you see that?" 

"What?" She sighed, still choked up.

"The flames…"

"What about them?" 

"They were all leaning…to the right."

"Russ, I'm not in the--"

A violent wind picked up in the middle of the women's sentence. It whipped by them so fast, they instinctively clung tighter to each other, for fear of blowing away. Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, a large sleek off-white plane appeared a hundred feet away from the huddling couple. 

"What the f--" Russell began in shock. 

"Dear god," Sarah whispered inaudibly over the landing plane. 

A large ramp lowered down from the back. Two dark figures stood atop the platform and quickly hurried down towards them. 

"Is she hurt?" One of them shouted as they neared them. He was a man in his late 40's, dressed in black pants, a black jacket, and a brown shirt underneath. Promptly yet gentle, he took Sarah's arm and hand and helped her to her feet. She was passed off to the young blonde women with him, as he did the same for Russell. 

"Who are you?" She asked as she was led up the platform. 

"Don't worry, honey." The woman replied with a smile. "We're not gonna hurt 'cha."

All her fears and doubts were shattered like glass when she saw the face of her sister huddled near her tall Japanese/American friend. With a loud cry, she sprinted to Tawny and hugged her tight. 

"Tawny! Oh my god! Are you alright?" She sobbed again into the 16 year olds shoulder. 

Russell's relief completely evident in his face. "Thank the Lord." He sighed as he walked over to his friends. "Lee, man. Thank god." Lee and the blonde man gave each other a short hug of reunion. "Is she alright?" 

"She'll be fine," Lee replied patting the smothered Tawny's head. "Transported us out before the GSA reached the panic room."

"Sarah," Tawny squeaked. "I can't breathe."

"What about the fire?" Russell asked. 

"Oh my god!" Sarah cried noticing her sister's bandaged hands. "What happened?" 

"Elementals, man." The Asian stated running his fingers through his hair.

"I couldn't teleport Eve and Lee out at the same time, so I took Eve first and then came back for Lee. When I got back the fire had started and I teleport too close to it with out knowing it." Tawny explained. 

"Where is Eve?" Sarah asked looking up at her two male friends. 

"When Tawny and I teleported out, she was gone." Lee replied as the hatch closed beside them. 

"She's not out there." The woman replied as the two reappeared aboard. They immediately went to the two seats farthest front. "We have to get out of here before the fire traps us." The man nodded solemly and began pushing buttons on the consol in front of him. 

"Who are they?" Sarah asked again settling in the seat above her sister with Tawny's hand still in her lap. 

"Adam…" Tawny replied, point to the man on the right. "And Shalimar. They're part of Mutant X." 

"Adam?" Sarah began inquisitively. "As in The Adam." 

"I don't know about 'The Adam'." He replied with an amused smile as they all felt the plane take off. "But Adam, none the less." 

"So," Russell coughed. "Where are we going?" 

"Home," Shalimar replied with a smile.

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This is starting to get frustrating. 

'Correction,' Brennan thought with a sigh. 'This is frustrating.' Just when he thought he made a break through in his search, he hit a dead end.  After hours of research, all he'd found out was that she'd lived with her mother and her step-father and went missing almost a year ago. He'd also gathered that it was about a year and a half after her sister did. Tawny's case was deemed a runaway since their was no evidence of foul-play. There was no fuss over her sister, since she wasn't a minor.  That was the extent of his knowledge. 

If only he knew more maybe he could find her. Brennan sat back, ran his fingers through his hair and sighed again. 

Maybe he was going at this from the wrong angle. 

Maybe he needed to take a break. 

Maybe he was going crazy with a delusional notion that this girl needed to be found. 

"Brennan?" 

            "I'm here, Adam." He replied closing down his search. 

            "Are Jesse and Emma back yet?" 

            "They got back like 10 minutes ago." Brennan answered standing from his seat and leaning over the computer. He knew Adam well enough to know that orders were about to be given. 

            "Good," Adam began. "Tell Emma to get the lab ready. I got a group of New Mutants here that I need to check for injuries."

            Brennan made a face. "Is it serious?" 

            "No," His calm voice replied. "Just some smoke inhalation and 2nd degree burns."

            "Was there a fire?" 

"I'll explain when I get back. Off."


	6. Reunions

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A/N- Okay, I warn you. This chapter might be a little bit boring. It's mostly character building. The REAL plot will get underway in about chapter 7. FF.net keeps uploading this chapter weird so the paragraphs at the end run together. Just try to piece it together! Thanks to all who reviewed!

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Chapter 6: Reunions

"Whoa it's huge!" Tawny gasped, gazing around the artfully decorated Zen garden/computer paradise. Russell stifled a chuckle as Shalimar took off his Visual Cloak and then moved on to Sarah. Tawny smacked the shoulder of her comrade. 

            "Stop being such a perve!" Sarah warned him also trying to take in her surrounding. 

            "This is way cooler than the Lair." Tawny gapped turning around to look at all angles.

            "Thank you very much," Adam put his hand on her shoulder, "You won't believe how long it took me to build." He smiled at her, "Come on, Let's get you and Lee to the lab to check for injuries."

            "Wait, what about Eve?" Sara asked worry in her voice.

            "Oh I'm sure Eve will be fine. She'll probably contact us asking for help. She always does. Shalimar will show you to the extra rooms." Adam replied leading Lee and Tawny in the direct of the lab.  

            Sarah turned to Shalimar; "I'd really like for my sister to be in the same room with me if that's all right." 

            "That's just fine..." The cat woman replied but was interrupted by another voice.

            "Sarah?" Sarah and Shalimar turned to see Jesse come down the steps toward them.

"Oh Jesse this is Sarah Hensley. Sarah, Jesse Kilm…" Shalimar tried to introduced them.

"What are you doing here?" Jesse asked running down the rest of the steps and slowly by Shalimar. He was clearly stunned by her presence. 

"Quite frankly," She sighed and smiled at the sight of her new friend. "I have no idea." 

"You two know each other?' Shalimar asked moving a pointed finger between the two. 

"We met tonight at the club." Jesse explained motioning to her and then putting his hand by his side. "You had me worried by the way you ran off."  

"For good reason," Russell interrupted putting his shoulder protectively between Sarah and Jesse. "Our HQ's currently a GSA bonfire."

"You're a New Mutant?" Jesse asked incredulously, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well…You didn't exactly ask." Sarah said still smiling as she pushed Russell back in his place. "It's not like you told me." 

"I hate to ruin this tender moment, but maybe we should check on Tawny and Lee."  Russell interrupted. 

"Uhhh…No…I'm sure they'll be fine." Shalimar interjected by grabbing Russell by the elbow and tugging slightly, "Come on Russ, I'll show you to your room." Looking back over her shoulder, she winked at Jesse, who flashed a quick smile back at her.

"Can I...uh…show you around?" 

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Ow…Ow…OWWW!" Tawny exclaimed at the brunette, who was bandaging her forearm. "Could you not wrap it so tight?" 

"Sorry," Emma apologized finishing the bandage, "You should be okay in a couple days. It's not as bad as it looks."

"Or feels," Tawny said examining her bandage, "I will never teleport near fire ever again."

She turned to Lee, "Can you take off your shirt? I need to check you for burns."

The silent Asian man slowly took off his gray ash-smeared shirt. Emma gasped to see disfigured burn scars all up and down his arms. 

"What happened?" Emma exclaimed gazing up into his eyes, hers full of concern.

"Nothing," He said grabbing his shirt, "I'm fine. May I go?" 

Emma nodded as the tall man stood up and exited the lab while attempting to put his shirt back on.

"Those aren't recent." Emma glanced at the teenager behind her.  

"He got them in the same fire his family died in, like 6 or 7 years ago." Tawny continued looking after her friend, "He always thought the GSA did it, but he's never been able to prove it. That's why the Lair burned down completely. He probably could have taken 'em but when he saw the fire he froze. I barely got him to the panic room in time. He's taking it pretty hard."

"He's not exactly social, is he?" The young woman commented bring up her left leg and resting it on the armrest of the lab chair next to Tawny.

"I don't think he believes in useless conversation. Unless he's got something important to say, he keeps to himself. Adam told us you're a telempath. Maybe you can…you know…read him?" "He's a brick wall." She hopped off the chair and motioned for the teenager to get up. "Anyway, you're good to go. Just don't take off the bandages and they'll heal pretty quickly." "Thanks." Tawny chirped and rose from the chair. "Emma…right?" "Right," She smiled. "And if it hurts anymore you come see me." "You must really like taking care of people." Tawny commented as she moved toward the door.  "I do," Emma agreed. 

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"So when did you decide you wanted to rescue New Mutants?" 

Sarah snapped back to reality from her daydream. "Umm…What?" 

"When did you decide to join Orion M?" Jesse repeated looking at her intently from a cross the table. She looked back down at her half-eaten peanut butter sandwich then back up at her handsome associate.

"It's really a long story, I mean REALLY long" She confided.

Jesse looked around the kitchen. "I'm not going anywhere." 

She smiled at his blunt assessment. "I grew up in a normal family, living on a normal street, in a normal town…" Sarah began.

"That's how it always starts." Jesse interrupted.

"Do you really want to hear this story or not?" She asked tilting her head slightly.

"Please go on." Jesse remarked beckoning her on with his hands.

"My dad was an alcoholic. He wasn't around much, thank god, but when he was…it wasn't pretty. Eventually mom wised up and got us out of there. Tawny was only about a year old, so she doesn't remember. After the divorce, she got remarried to this great guy, Jeff Hensley, who took care of all of us. He was like the dad I never had." 

"Good for your mom." Jesse commented with a smile. 

"So anyway, I turned 18 and packed up and moved off to college, everything's normal. That is, until my abnormalities start getting more noticeable. One night, I found myself being chased by Genomex field agents and suddenly this guy, like falls from the sky, even today I don't know where he came from, but he saved me. He was a feral just like me, but he was Canine. We started hanging out and he introduced me to the whole world of the Children of Genomex."

"Who was he?" 

"Calvin Richards" Sarah answered absently. "He was a year older than I was, so he graduated a year earlier. A week before graduation he'd told me about a woman who'd contacted him about being in a group that helped people like us. He'd wanted me to come with him. I didn't want to. I wanted to stay in school and finish out my last year. So he left to be trained and I went home to see my parents."

"Did you see him again?" 

"Yes," She replied picking up her sandwich and starring at it almost intently. "But not until after I found out I was adopted." 

"You're kidding."

"Nope." Sarah dropped her sandwich to her plate. "I was found unconscious in the middle of the woods at four years old. And the worst part is…my parents don't even know that I know." 

"You mean they didn't tell you?"

"Memories sort resurfaced that summer, some as dreams, some during panic attacks. My brain would literally want to shut down. My parents thought I was bipolar or something, I don't know. Point is I dropped out of school and moved away. I couldn't stand to see them anymore. I eventually found Calvin and joined Orion M. Turns out, it was one of the best times of my life."   

Jesse noticed a far off stare in the girl's eyes. Tears were almost forming. He could tell she was reliving something, something saddening. "Where's Calvin now?" He worked up the courage to ask. 

"That depends," She answered. "Do you believe in heaven?" 

"Oh," was the only thing he dared to say. 

"He died saving my sister from Genomex. He took the bullet for her. Killed him instantly…" She stopped. 

Jesse reached out his hand and touched hers gently. Immediately, she woke from her daydream and pulled her hand away. 

"Well, look at me, spilling my whole life's story. You must be bored out of your mind." She tried to laugh. 

Jesse remained quite for a moment, creating an awkward pause. "Did you ever try to contact your birth parents?"

"Why? What's the point?" 

"Aren't you curious about who you are or where you came from?" 

Sarah looked back down at her sandwich in thought. Her head straightened up and she met Jesse's gaze. "No. I'm Sarah Hensley. I'll always be Sarah Hensley, no matter who my real parents are."

Jesse grin at her. "Good for you." 

Sarah smiled back and pushed her food away from her. "So what about you, Jesse Kilmartin? What's your story?" 

"Well, it's definitely not as interesting as yours. I'll tell you that."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Brennan was seriously considering punching a hole through the computer screen. Three hours and no information on the mysterious Tawny. 

"All right! Fine!" He yelled to the ceiling, "She obviously doesn't want to be found so I quit! You hear me! I quit." 

"Could you yell a bit louder?" A sarcastic voice came from behind him, "I don't think Africa heard you." 

He recognized the voice but he couldn't believe who he thought it was. Slowly moving away from the keyboard, he glanced looked back at his visitor, reveling in the irony.

"Hey! You must be Brennan. You remember me?"

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A/N- R/R like always! 

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	7. New Leadership and Mexican Beer

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A/N- We tried really hard to begin the plot but we realized we still had a bit more fluff for you guys. Sorry so enjoy the randomness! 

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Chapter 7:

"Right under my nose. I can't believe it."  Brennan said passing the nerf football to Tawny as he and the teenage girl walked through one of the main halls. 

"Weird isn't it? So you've been looking up information on me for two days straight?" Tawny said returning the pass, "I didn't know I was that interesting."

"Well I just wanted to piece together what happened that day. Go Long. " Brennan replied rearing back for a long throw. Tawny ran forward a little bit and caught the neon colored ball with ease. 

"Touchdown!" Tawny yelled doing a little dance. Brennan laughed to himself at the ostentatious young girl.

"What do you remember?" Tawny asked them plopping down into a nearby chair.

"Well…" Brennan started sitting in the chair next to her. " I remember getting hit with the stun guns then, a tall man knocking over agents with a flick of his wrist…"

"That's Lee, he's a Sonic Elemental." She interrupted.

"Who was the blonde guy fighting?" 

"Russell, Psionic Illusionist."

"The one who was flying was your sister right?"

"You do do your home work don't you? Yeah she's an Aves Feral. And she wasn't flying, she was gliding. She has a special coat that the sleeves hook to the sides to make wings, and since she only weighs like 50 pounds it's easy for her to use."

"50 pounds?"

"Hollow bones, like all birds."

"What about you how did you pull me into that alley?"

She smiled to herself and chuckled.

"I can teleport form one place to another." Tawny stated looking up at Brennan.

"That's what the rushing feeling was." Brennan said everything suddenly clicking, "Is that how you got out of the fire?"

" Yeah, I had to make two trips cause I'm not really good with it yet. Which you can tell." She held up her bandaged arm. "Coming back in I missed my target by about 2 feet and got burned."

"I've never heard of Teleportation. Is it Molecular?" He asked very intrigued

"I think its Molecular and Psionic." Tawny replied examining her arm in slight boredom. 

"How so?" Brennan asked.

"Well, Eve said it was Molecular because I can break my molecules up into pieces, but then I can send them through the air so I guess that's Psionic too."

"I didn't know that a mutation can be in two categories." Brennan said to himself wistfully. Lee entering the room from the side door interrupted their conversation.

"Tawny, Orion M meeting."

Tawny nodded and handed the football to Brennan.

"Talk to you later." She said in parting and followed Lee out of the room.   

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Tawny made sure the door closed behind her before she joined her Russell on the bed in the middle of the left wall. Lee was already present standing along the opposite wall, arms crossed, silently thinking about things only he knew. Sarah broke the silence from her place in a nearby chair. 

"Does anyone have any idea what we should be doing?" 

Russell sighed. "If you're about to say get organized, I'm gonna gag." 

Sarah rolled her eyes and ignored him. "Eve's our leader. Now she's gone. What else to you suppose we do?"

"She's right." Lee remarked simply. "We need someone in charge or else we're no good to New Mutants."

"But what if Eve comes back?" Tawny asked playing with the laces of her shoes. 

"And what if she doesn't?" the brooding Japanese man countered. 

"I suppose you want the position." Russell shot back defensively. "General Haruko Lee Huang I assume." 

"Stop being an ass, Russell." Sarah murmured under her breath.

"What was that?" the blonde's head snapped in her direction. 

"I said stop being an ass, Russell. It's not helping." She repeated with a stern voice. 

"What are you gonna do if I don't? Peck me into submission." 

"If I have to." Sarah's eyes flashed with a large round pupil, reminding and warning Russell of what she could do. 

"Can we all please calm down here?" Tawny interrupted, slightly amused that she was being the voice of reason and maturity. "Listen, we all realize that Russell has a problem with change and authority and we all know how low Sarah's bull sh-" Sarah gave her a warning glare. "-crap tolerance is. We don't need a display here. Let's just take a vote. The person we vote for takes over Eve's duties until she comes back, if or when she does. Alright?" The three adults nodded in agreement. "Alright, I'll go first. I vote for Sarah." 

Lee cleared his throat. "Sarah," 

"Lee" Sarah answered.

Russell was silent, taking in the vote and mentally debating. Finally he looked up. "Sarah would be the best at it." 

"Congrats, sis." Tawny smiled. "What's our plan of action?"

Sarah sighed and ran her fingers through her hand pensively. "We should stay here for a while, just until we get our bearings. Eve will probably contact us here, anyway. I also think we should try to absorb some things from Mutant X. They're better at what we do. If we watch and learn, we can only get better, right?"     

There was a silence in the room after she finished speaking. She looked to Lee for a reaction. Catching her eye, he subtly nodded in encouragement. Exhaling in relief she motioned towards the door. "Um…dismissed?" 

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 The concoction in the large stew pot steamed as Russell effortlessly pushed it around with his wooden spoon. The smell was intoxicating but something was obviously missing.

"Garlic." Russell murmured to himself. "It needs garlic." He reached up to search through the cabinet above him at the sanctuary kitchen. Not being able to find his needed spice, he set down the spoon and began searching through random cabinets.

"Hey Emma." He yelled on his hands and knees, head halfway into one of the cabinet closer to the floor, " Where's the Garlic?" 

"How should I know?" Emma's voice came from above him scaring him half to death; "We hardly ever use the kitchen."

"I've noticed." Russell replied to the practically new condition of the cooking appliances.

"What are you making?" She asked sitting down at the near by table.

"The Russell Evans patented burn-your-mouth-shave-your-cat-strip-down-to-your-shorts-do-a-little-dance-kiss-your-neighbor three alarm chili."

Emma looked at him with a questioning expression.

"I invented the recipe in my freshman year of college."

"Interesting name. I hope it doesn't reflect the ingredients."

"Speaking of ingredients, I still can't find that garlic." Russell said reaching up again to look in a cabinet and, to her surprise, the moment his fingers left the spoon, it still stirred the chili. "Oh I found it!" The cook cried victoriously. 

She glanced back up at him for a moment and then back at the spoon, which was now resting on the side of the pot again.

"What did you just do?" She asked.

"Oh, the spoon thing?" He smiled adding the powdered garlic. "I'm just showing-off. It's a habit. I always use my powers in front of pretty girls." 

Emma looked down at the floor wand smiled at the complement. 

"You know what I don't understand?" Russell continued before Emma could comment.

"What?"

"Mexican Beer." He answered in mock-seriousness as he tapped the spoon against the edge of the metal pot. "I mean we all know what great water they have down there." The sarcasm in his voice made Emma laugh as Tawny appeared at the door. 

"Ooo! Can I have some?" The small girl asked noticing familiar smell of her friend's chili.

"Beer? No, you wouldn't like it." Russell quipped not looking up from his cooking.

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A/N- See that wasn't so bad! R/R like always! 

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